CLERICS SLAM BREAKUP NEW CITIES WON'T HELP THE POOR, STUDY SAYS.

Byline: Harrison Sheppard Staff Writer

A group of Los Angeles religious leaders announced its opposition Monday to the city's three breakup movements, saying secession leaders failed to convince them the poor and disadvantaged would be any better off in new cities than in Los Angeles.

The Council of Religious Leaders, which includes local leaders of a dozen Christian and Jewish organizations, studied the issue for a year after former Mayor Richard Riordan publicly asserted that San Fernando Valley secession would be ``immoral.''

The study was to examine the ``moral and theological dimensions of secession'' but the final five-page report did not draw any theological conclusions, nor did it say that secession is immoral.

``The city of Los Angeles clearly does not work for millions of its residents,'' the report said. ``Disparities in wealth and income and inadequacies in basic services are fundamental challenges for the leadership of this city and have become the seedbed for the secession movements.''

The clerics said in their view the proponents of cityhood campaigns in the Valley, Hollywood and Harbor area had failed to make the case that new cities would do any better than Los Angeles.

``While we believe that in limited instances secession could be justified, in the cases at hand, proponents have not argued convincingly that the cure would be dramatically better than the current situation,'' the group wrote.

``It is not sufficient to document the many ways in which the current city system is in disrepair,'' the report also said. ``For secession to be justified, proponents must demonstrate that this most serious of remedies will radically alter the status quo by significantly improving the lives of residents in the new city while not adversely affecting those left behind.''

The study effort was launched by Cardinal Roger Mahony of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles, and his representative led a working group that met eight times since May 2001 to study the issue.

Riordan, an ardent opponent of secession, had encouraged Mahony to get involved in the debate and has argued often in the past that secession is wrong because it represents an abandonment of the city's poorer areas by the wealthier Valley.

The group members said they started from a neutral viewpoint, and that the conclusions - reached unanimously, they said - were their own.

``The committee was very open-minded going into it,'' said Rabbi Alan Henkin, a Northridge resident who is director of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations and current head of the Council of Religious Leaders. ``The Valley VOTE (Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment) people made a very compelling case to us. It just was under closer examination that case fell apart in our eyes.''

Secession supporters said it is the city of Los Angeles that has already failed the poor, and they noted that their strongest support has come from the impoverished Northeast Valley, where they got their highest percentage of signatures for the petition drive that launched their effort.

``It's ironic they've come to this conclusion, when the heaviest amount of support for a change came from the Northeast Valley,'' said Valley VOTE Chairman Richard Close. ``The poorest area is the area that wants the changes the most, because they realize we're not getting our fair share of city services currently. That's why there's a need for change.

``I've always been surprised that this has been addressed as a moral issue. This is a question of democracy and self-determination and I don't see why religious leaders believe this is a question of morality.''

Members of the council said they intend to speak with other clergy members in their organizations and ask them to talk to church and synagogue members about secession.

Riordan still said he believes that secession is immoral and he plans to get ``somewhat involved'' in the campaign against secession.

``I think it's the haves deserting the have-nots,'' Riordan said. ``By the same token I think it would be bad economics for the Valley. I think the taxes are going to go up and the services are going to go down.''

He said even though the Valley has impoverished areas, they are not as bad off as other areas of the city.

``The people who live in Pacoima and Sylmar live a lot better than people in East L.A., Pico-Union and South Los Angeles,'' Riordan said.

``Certainly they (secessionists) point out that the demographics pretty much represent the demographics of the city, and I'll take their word on that. That doesn't mean just because somebody is black or brown that they're not better off than somebody else who is black or brown.''

A spokesman for Mayor James Hahn, who is taking a lead role in fighting secession, praised the report and said the mayor agrees with its conclusions.

``I think it's a real blow to the secession proponents,'' said Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook. ``These religious leaders have taken a long look at the issue and taken an unambiguous view that of all the courses that the city needs to pursue, secession is not one of them.''

Some members of the group said they were also concerned that the new city would not continue certain Los Angeles policies that help the poor, such as rent control and the living-wage ordinance.

``There were hard-fought battles to achieve the living-wage and rent control ordinances,'' said the Rev. Madison Shockley of the United Church of Christ, Southern California/Nevada Conference.

But the current cityhood plan before the Local Agency Formation Commission - which is scheduled to decide in May whether to put secession on the November

ballot - calls for the new cities to automatically adopt all of Los Angeles' ordinances at the start, meaning rent control and the living wage would be in effect until the newly elected leaders decide otherwise.

The Rev. Zedar Broadous, a Valley VOTE member and president of the Valley branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, said the report should have proposed better alternatives to help the city's poor.

``I think to me the report would've been a stronger report had it directed itself toward evaluating the needs of the city and posing some resolution to those needs,'' Broadous said.

But council members noted their organizations are constantly working to improve the lives of the poor through various community activities and funding for nonprofit organizations.

Broadous and his organization do not have a position on secession, but he is a member of Valley VOTE because he wanted to understand the issue.

``I would concur with their reasoning that there's no guarantee that life would be better,'' Broadous said. ``But the only guarantee we have that life would be better for me will be within my faith, that one day it would be better. The object is good people have to work to continue to make life better for those who are less fortunate.''

The council's opinion does not represent endorsements by the individual religious organizations, but is the opinion of individual leaders in those churches.

The council includes representatives of the following organizations: Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles; American Baptist Churches of Los Angeles; Board of Rabbis of Southern California; Southern California/Nevada Conference of United Church of Christ; Union of American Hebrew Congregations; Church of the Brethren, Pacific Southwest District; Diocese of the Armenian Orthodox Church; Presbyterian Church of USA; Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles; Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; United Methodist Church; and Disciples of Christ, Pacific Southwest region.

Although it is on the council, The Church of the Brethren, which has no churches in the Valley, did not participate in the secession working group.

Excerpts of religious leaders' report on L.A. breakup moves

Here are some excerpts from the five-page report issued Monday by a group of Los Angeles religious leaders on the ``moral and theological dimensions'' of secession:

The city of Los Angeles clearly does not work for millions of its residents. Disparities in wealth and income and inadequacies in basic services are fundamental challenges for the leadership of this city and have become the seedbed for the secession movements.

Although fundamental inequities persist across the city of Los Angeles, neither the status quo nor the proposed breakup of the city is the answer ...

While we believe that, in limited instances, secession could be justified, in the cases at hand, proponents have not argued convincingly that the cure would be dramatically better than the current situation ...

We believe that Los Angeles can become a city in which economic, educational, and physical fulfillment are more fully realized and in which health care, nutrition, transportation and housing needs are adequately met. While this is our goal, secession will not be the means of achieving those realities ...

In the Jewish and Christian traditions, the ultimate test for a righteous society is its treatment of the poor and most vulnerable members. According to our traditions, God shows preferential concern for the poor and marginalized ...

Therefore, from a moral and theological perspective, the key question we ask with regards to secession is how it will impact the poor, the weak, and the marginalized ...

Secession advocates have failed to provide convincing evidence that secession - the creation of large new urban areas out of the present mega- urban center - will correct the problems and challenges that currently exist in the city of Los Angeles.

The proponents of secession have not advanced with any specificity their programs or policies that will address issues of low-income housing, health care for the uninsured, homelessness, job-training, or job development.

There is no evidence that the poor and disenfranchised of new cities and of the remaining city will be better off after secession ...

We encourage all people of good will to reflect, discuss, and pray about these issues in order to strengthen our resolve to improve the lives of all people of this great city but in a particular way, the poor, the weak, and the vulnerable.

CAPTION(S):

photo, box

Photo:

Rabbi Mark Diamond talks about the moral and theological dimensions of secession after Monday's news conference.

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

Box:

Excerpts of religious leaders' report on L.A. breakup moves (see text)